Apparatus i or production of electrical conductors



Jan. 31, 1967 ANDREN Re. 26,152

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS Original Filed April26, 1962 17 Sheets-Sheet 9 INVENTOR KARL. H.ANDREN ATT ORNEYS.

K. H. ANDREN Jan. 31, 1967 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICALCONDUCTORS l7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed April 26,

INVENTOR KARL H. ANDREN ATTORNEYS K. H ANDREN Re. 26,152

CTR i CA! GONDUCIORS Jan. 31, 1967 l7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original. FiledApril 26, 1962 N .E m T NM w A WH L R A K ATTORNEYS K. H. ANDREN Jan.31,1967

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTL'ON O ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS l7 Sheets-5heet 4Original Fihed April 26, 1962 lin INVENTOR.

KARL H. ANDREN ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 31, 1967 K. H. ANDREN Re. 26,152

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS Original Filed April26, 1962 17 Sheets-Sheet b JNVEN'IT JR.

KARL H. ANDRE N M &

ATTORNEYS K. H. ANDREN Jan. 31, 1967 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OFELECTRICAL GONDUC'POHS l7 Shasta-Sheet 6 filed April 26 Original.

INVENTOR.

K ARL H. A NDREN AT YOR NEY S.

K. H. ANDREN Re. 26,152

ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS Jan. 31, 1967 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF 1'?Sheets-5heet 7 Original Film April 26, 1962 N E R R D T. N N w A V WH LI R W A W K W1 ATTOR NE Y 5 Jan. 31, 1967 K. H. ANDREN lflAIJ CONDVCTORSAPPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF ELECTR Original Filed April 26, 1962 17Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. KARL H. ANDREN mam ATTORNEYS Jan. 31, 1967ANDREN Re. 26,152

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICMJ CONDUGTORS Original Filed April26, 1962 17 Sheets-$heet Q KARL H. ANDREN Mam ATTORNEYS.

K. H. ANDREN Re. 26,152

ONUUCTORS Jan. 31, 1967 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION Oi" ELECTRICAL C 17Sheets-Sheet 10 Original Filed April 26, 1962 f NV ENTOR. KARL H. ANDREN ATTORNEYS K. H. ANDREN Re. 26,152

CONDUCTORS Jan. 31, 1967 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICAL,

l7 Sheets-Sheet 11 Original Filed April 26, 1962 MVENTOR. K AR L H. A NDR E N WRTMQZIM ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 31, 1967 K. H. ANDREN 25,152

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS Original Filed April26, 1962 17 Sheets$heet l2 ay M INVENTOR.

KARL H. ANDREN ATTORNEYS.

K. H. ANDREN Re. 26,152

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS Jan. 31, 1967 17Sheets-Sheet 1 5 Original Filed April 26, 1962 INVENTOR. K AR L H. AN DRE N ATTOR NEY S K. H. ANDREN Re. 26,152

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS Jan. 31, 1967 1'?Sheets-Sheet 14.

Original Filed April 26, 1962 "fill/IIIIIII/II/liik Il/ ll/l/ INVENTOR.K ARL H. ANDREN ATTOR NEYS Jan. 31, 1967 N R N Re. 26,152

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS Original Filed April26, 1962 17 Sheets-$heet 1% INVENTOR. KARL H.ANDREN m1 4 TlifluqATTORNEYS K. H. ANDREN Re. 26,152

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF ELECTYUCAL CONDUG'TOBS Jan. 31, 1967 17Sheets-Sheet 16 Original Filed April 26, 1962 INVENTOR.

K ARL H. ANDR E N m em ATTORN EY In 7 Sheets-Sheet 1? Jan. 31, 1967 K.H. ANDREN APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS OriginalFiled April 26, 1962 31R R M Whi 6 2C kin United States Patent OfificeRe. 26,152 Reissued Jan. 31, 1967 26,152 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OFELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS Karl H. Andren, West Allis, Wis., assignor toArlos Engineering Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of WisconsinOriginal No. 3,201,848, dated Aug. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 306,499, Sept. 4,1963, which is a division of Ser. No. 190,402, Apr. 26, 1962, now PatentNo. 3,283,398, dated Nov. 8, 1966. Application for reissue Apr. 18,1966, Ser. No. 546.126

14 Claims. Matter enclosed in heavy brackets appears in the this reissuespecifioriginal patent but forms no part of cation; matter printed initalics indicates the additions made by reissue.

The present application is a division of applicant's copendingapplication, Serial No. 190,402, filed April 26. I962, now Patent No.3,283,398, and relates primarily to the provision of an improvedapparatus for rapidly and accurately producing successive electricalconductor cords of diverse kinds from a continuous supply wire.

This invention relates generally to improvements in the art of producingelectrical conductors from cord wire stock, and it relates morespecifically to an improved apparatus for accurately manufacturingconductors of various types and lengths from continuous cord wire inrapid succession.

A number of different kinds of machines for producing various types ofelectrical conductors from cord wire have heretofore been proposed andused quite extensively. but due to the tremendous demand for suchconductors and to the fact that the conductor requirements are becomingmore intricate and that successive conductors of each type must beproduced identically and with utmost precision, these prior mechanismshave failed to meet all of the commercial demands and requirements. Inthese so-called electric cords, two or more insulation-coated Wires haveplastic coatings which are molded together laterally, and in order toproperly apply terminals of various types, the coating at the oppositeends of each cord wire must be slit to separate the individual strands,and usually the insulation must also be removed at these wire endsbefore the terminals can be attached thereto. The terminals used inthese machines are fed into the attaching mechanisms in the form ofstrips from which the individual terminals must be severed as required.

Most of the prior conductor cord producing machines have been restrictedeither to applying a terminal only to one end of each wire or cord, orto the opposite ends of a single wire only. With the prior machineswherein a terminal was attached to each end of a single wire, theseterminals were also applied successively in the same operating zone,thereby materially limiting the speed of operation and the capacity ofthe machines. Then, too, in all prior machines, the terminal attachingzones were very restricted as to sizes and types of terminals that couldbe attached therein, and none were capable of applying several differentkinds of terminals to each of the opposite ends of a cord. With therestricted attaching zones of the previous mechanisms, it was extremelydifficult to feed along ground pin terminals into proper position forattachment with required accuracy and speed.

The present invention therefore contemplates the provision of apparatuswhereby higher speed of production is made possible with far greateraccuracy and range of control, and which is also effective for producingconductor cords having predetermined lengths adjustable during normaloperation [which could not be accomplished with any prior apparatus]with full and complete access being afforded to both sides of theconductor cords and the conveying mechanism therefor.

In attaining these objects, an apparatus is provided which includes wireclamping and conveying mechanism for predetermined wire lengths in whichlaterally spaced clamps for receiving and gripping spaced portions ofthe wire lengths are advanced along a rectilinear path in single filesuccession, and the invention also contemplates feeding means whichincludes a gripping device operable to draw predetermined lengths ofwire from a supply reel past a cutting zone and for thereafter bringingthe trailing end and the leading cnd of the severed wire length intolaterally spaced juxtaposition within adjacent clamps.

A clear conception of the construction and operation of a typicalmachine embodying the invention and adapted for effecting automaticproduction of electrical conductors from cord wire may be had byreferring to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of thisspecification wherein like reference characters designate the same orsimilar parts in the various views.

FIGURE la is a side elevation of the front half of a commercial machinefor producing electrical conductors from cord ribbon;

FIGURE lb is a side elevation of the rear half of the same machine;

FIGURE 2 is an end view taken from the left of the same machine asviewed in FIGS. la and lb:

FIG. 3a is a top view of the front end of the machine. a partial seclionhaving been taken along the line EE of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3b is a top view of the rear end portion of the machine with asmall portion thereof broken away;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged horizontal section through a portion of the samemachine, viewed from the left and taken approximately along the line AAof FIG. la:

FIG. Sis a similarly enlarged horizontal section through the machine,also taken along the line AA of FIG. Ia showing the mechanism in oneposition;

FIG. 6 is a similar section taken along the line A.-\ but showing themechanism in another operating positron:

FIG. 7 is also a similar section taken along the line A-A. but alsoshowing the mechanism in still another operating position;

FIG. 8 is a vertical section through the machine taken along the lineB-B of FIG. 1a but with some parts omitted for the sake of clarity;

FIG. 9 is a more complete vertical section taken along the line CC ofFIG. 3a, but showing the mechanism at a different time from that of FIG.8;

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal vertical section through the rear of the samemachine, taken along the line DD of FIG. 3a;

FIG. it is an enlarged fragment of a portion of the mechanism shown insection in FIG. 10;

at high FIG. 12 is an enlarged section taken horizontally through theupper conveyor driving gear box of FIG. 2, taken along the line K-K ofFIG. 13, and showing the internal mechanism;

FIG. 13 is a vertical section through the conveyor drive box of FIG. 12.taken along the line I-I of FIG. 2;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged top view of the lower variable speed drive boxwith top cover removed and with fragmentary sections as shown in FIG. 2,taken along the line HH thereof;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged side view of a fragment of the cord gatheringmechanism shown in FIG. 1a behind other structure;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged transverse section taken along the line M-M ofFIG. la, showing the cord clamping mechanism;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged part sectional side elevation of one of the cordlength carriers;

FIG. 18 is an enlarged part sectional view of the cord end slitting andstripping unit of the machine taken approximately along the dividingline of FIGS. la and lb;

FIG. 19 is a similarly enlarged end view of the unit shown in FIG. 18',

FIG. 20 is a likewise enlarged vertical section through the unit of FIG.18 taken along the line H-H of FIG. 18;

FIG. 21 is an enlarged end elevation of one of the terminal attachingdevices and the driving cam thereof, taken along the line G-G of FIG.3b:

FIG. 22 is an enlarged side view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 21;

FIG. 23 is an end view of one type of finished conductor collectingmechanism of the machine.

FIG. 24 is an enlarged horizontal section through the mechanism of FIG.23 taken along the line P-P',

FIG. 25 is an enlarged vertical transverse section through the mechanismof FIG. 23 taken along the line R-R:

FIG. 26 is an enlarged transverse vertical section through the conductorpick-up mechanism taken along the line F-F of FIG. 23, showing thetransfer elements in final delivering position;

FIG. 27 is a similar section showing the transfer elements in positionready to receive a subsequent conductor:

FIG. 28 is another similar view showing the position of the elementswhile picking up another completed conductor:

FIG. 29 i a plan view of one type of finished conductor showing varioustypes of terminals attached to a ribbon cord length:

FIGS. 30 to 37 show various types of terminal strips which may be fedinto the machine to produce condoctors of various kinds". and

FIG. 38 is a timing diagram for the machine.

Referring to the drawings, the conductor production mechanism showntherein by way of illustration comprises in general, a cable or cordfeeding device adapted to withdraw continuous cord stock 9 from a supplyreel 8: a conveyor loading device 11 for actuating a cord stock transfermechanism 12 with its gripper 231 (FIGS. 3a, 8 and II): a cord gatherer17 for assisting in gathering cord stock 9 withdrawn from the reel 8(FIG. a severer 13 for cutting successive predetermined lengths 15 ofcord stock 9 from the continuous supply (FIGS. la. 3a]; anintermittently movable endless chain conveyor 14 (FIGS. la. 3a. 15 and17) having thereon a series of U-shaped carriers having a first cordgripping member 19 and a second cord gripping member 19', for grippingand carrying the opposite ends 16 of each severed cord length 15 injuxtaposition; a number of interconnected cooperating units 21 disposedat different positions along the path of advancement of the cordcarriers 20 by the conveyor 14 and being operable to successively slit,strip, stagger cut. and attach various types of terminals to both ends16 of each cord length 15: and mechanism for finally removing thefinished conductors at an unloading station 21 and for depositing theminto a receiver 22 adapted to be unloaded during normal operation of themachine (FIGS. 1b and 3b).

The carriers 20, are secured to the endless chain of the conveyor 14equidistant apart and are adapted to engage fixed parallel guide bars25, 25' secured to a sturdy channel beam 24 firmly attached with spacers23 to a main table frame supported on legs 26 (see FIGS. la to 3 and16). The conveyor 14 is intermittently operable from an upper drive box33 (FIGS. 2, 12 and 13) mounted on spacers 36 carried by the frame 30.and is adapted to be driven by a shaft 27 and intermcshing gears 28which are indexed by a Geneva drive 31, this shaft being locked duringthe dwell period by a cam actuated locking element 29. The Geneva drive31 is driven from a main indexing shaft 32 journalled in the drive box33 and which shaft in turn is driven by reduction gears 34, 35 and by atiming belt drive through a main drive shaft 41 and another belt drive42 from an electric motor 43 (FIGS. 2 and 3a).

The drive shaft 41 is journalled in a lower drive box also carried bythe table 30, and provides a variable speed friction drive for the cordfeeding device 10 (FIGS. 3a and l4), through bevel gears 51, a driveshaft 52. a driving friction disc 53 coatcing through a friction rollerwith a friction disc 54 mounted on a drive shaft 60. which shaft alsocarries a one-way clutch gear 61. The roller 55 is axially adjustable bymeans of a freely mounted positioning bar 56 movable by a screw 57adapted to be rotated by a hand wheel 58 through a chain drive 58', andthe axial static friction pressure required is exerted by set screw 62pressing through the flat spring 63 on the thrust and radial bearing 64.The one-way clutch 61 is adapted to drive a pair of intermeshing gears70. 71 (FIGS. 2 and 14) which are drivingly con nected through universaljoints 73 and drive shafts 75 with a pair of pinch rollers journalled inlevers 81 fulcrumed on pivots 82 in a bracket 83 which is suspended fromthe channel bar 24 (FIGS. 4, S, 6, 7, 9, and 10].

The pinch roller supporting levers 81 are movable toward and away fromeach other by connecting rods attached to geared levers 91 operable by acompression spring 92 attached to the channel bar 24 and which coactswith another connecting rod 93 attached to one of the levers 91 and to abell crank 94 swingable about a fulcrum 95 carried by a bracket 96 onthe channel bar 24 (FIG. 10). The bell crank 94 is provided with aroller adapted to be engaged by a cam lug 101 on a cam 102 mounted uponthe shaft 32 to momentarily separate the spring loaded pinch rollers 80equidistant from the opposite sides of the ribbon cord 9 through thelinkage just described. and an attendant may also adjust the feedinglength of the cord stock 9 by manipulating the hand wheel 58 while themachine is operating.

Each of the U-shaped carriers 19, 20 and 20 which are attached to theendless chain conveyor 14 comprises a leader clamp 103 adapted to engagethe leading end of a cord length and a trailer clamp 104 adapted toengage the trailing end of the same looped cord length after same hasbeen severed from the cord stock 9. and to firmly hold and carry thesetwo ends in juxtaposition (FIGS. lb. 16 and 17). The two clamps 103. 104are interconnected by a frame 105 forming two separate parallelguideways which engage the guide bar 25. and are rigidly united by acentral part to which a short guide block 111 adapted to engage theother guide bar 25 is attached.

Each of the carrier clamps 103, 104 is provided with a fixed anvil 112and a sliding jaw 113 which is normally retained in open position by aspring 114 and is confined in a guide slot 121 by a cover plate 122. Theend of the slide jaw 113 nearest to the conveyor chain is provided witha notch within which a locking wedge 123 is sli-dably engaged and tendsto move outwardly under the influence of a spring 124 coacting with across bar 125, but the wedge is prevented from mov 1) ing until the end116 of the jaw 113 is pressed down upon the yielding cord 115 whereuponthe jaw 113 will be locked into that position by the wedge. The cordwill thus remain clamped as compressed in the leading jaw 103 until thecarrier arrives at the unloading station 21 whereupon the locking wedgeis pushed back and the jaw 113 is released by its spring 114, as will belater described.

Whenever the indexing and transporting conveyor 14 has indexed theadvancing carrier 19 with a cable end 16' of a loop 15 which is carriedacross the pathway of conveyor 14 from the supply reel 8 through a dragblock 285 and between the pinch rollers by the gripper 231, saidconveyor also advances the second carrier 20' to a dwelling period in afirst loading position for loading its leading clamp 103. Said clampwith its open jaws 112, 113 has just received a median portion of thecord 9 as will be described later. The upper end 116 of this jaw 113will then be depressed by the spring loaded plunger to clamp and locksaid cord 9 (FIG. 17), and said cord will be severed by the severer 13.Said spring loaded plunger 130 is mounted on a lever 131 secured to anoperating shaft 132 journalled in a bracket 132' carried by the channel24 (FIGS. 1a, 8, 9, and 10). The other end of. this shaft is secured toa lever 133 connected by a drag link 134 to the upper end of a cam lever135, the opposite end of which carries a roller adapted to engage a cam136 and biased toward this cam by a spring 137. When the cord 9 has beensevered, the end carried by the gripper 231 becomes the trailing end 16of the new cord 15, and this end 16 is turned around and inserted intothe trailing clamp 104 to bring these cord ends into flat juxtapositionas will be described later. The end 116 of the clamping jaw 113 of theclamp 104 is operated in a similar manner by a spring pressed plunger140, a lever 141, a shaft 142, a lever 143, and a drag link 144 througha cam lever 145 which is engageable with a earn 146 and is biased towardthe latter by a spring 147 (FIGS. 3a, 10 and 16).

In order to insure that the cord 9 will be properly transferred from thecord stock transfer mechanism 12 and delivered to the leading clamp 103,a cable support 150 having a hook 151 for lifting the cord 9 carried bythe gripper 231 slightly above the anvil 112 of the approaching clamp103 is provided, and this hook also provides proper lateral or sidelocation of said cord. This cable support 150 is adapted to swing intimed relation as indicated in dot-and-dash lines in FIG. 15, and isoperable by a multiple linkage 152 mounted on the frame 30 which isactuated by an oscillatory shaft 153 cooperating through a spring biasedpinion and rack 154 and with cam lever 156 with a cam carried by theshaft 32 (FIGS. 2 and 3a).

The cable cutting device 13 is also supported on the frame 30 andcomprises a lower knife 160 mounted on a bell crank pivoted on a shaft161, an upper knife 162 mounted upon another bell crank attached to andswingable by a shaft 163, a spring 164 for urging the knives 160, 162toward each other like a pair of shears, and a pair of links 165connecting both knives with a slidable rod 166 (FIGS. la, 2 and 3a). Therod 166 is urged in one direction by a compression spring 167 tonormally maintain the knives 160, 162 in open position, and this rodcoacts through linkage 168 and a lever 169 fulcrumed on a shaft 171 witha cam carried by the cam shaft 32.

The conveyor loading device (FIGS. 4 to 11) is confined within a housing175 having inverted U-shaped cross section and which is firmly securedto the channel bar 24. Two reciprocable racks 176, 176' are disposedwithin this housing 175 but have their supporting bearings 177, 178mounted externally of the housing, and these racks support a grooved bar179 which is adapted to engage a roller 180. The racks 176 arereciprocable by pinions 181 secured to a drive shaft 182 journalled inthe bearings 177, and the shaft 182 has a crank 183 attached thereto andwhich is operable by a link 184 connected to a cam actuated lever 185fulcrumed on a shaft 186 and which is adapted to be actuated by a camgroove formed in one side of a rotary cam 187 (FIGS. 2 and 3a). Theopposite side of the cam 187 is provided with another cam groove whichcoacts with a cam lever 192 also fulcrumed on the shaft 186 and which isconnected by a link 193 with a rocker arm 194 secured to the upper endof an upright shaft 195 journalled in a bearing block 196 mounted uponthe housing 175. This shaft 195 has another rocker arm 197 with acontact surface 198 and is connected by a link 199 to another similarrocker arm 197' on an upright shaft 195' with a contact surface 198'(see FIGS. 4 to 7), the function of which will be later described.

The lower portion of the housing 175 is provided with a guideway 205 andwith gibs 206 (FIG. 10) adapted to cooperate with a reciprocable hollowframe shuttle 207 (FIGS. 8 and 9) which is operable by a link 208connected to an end of a lever 209 (FIGS. 3a and 5 to 7). This lever 209has its opposite end welded to one end of a pivot bar 210 and is alsofirmly connected thereto by a brace 21]. and this assemblage is mountedon a pivot pin 212 which projects at both ends through a stand 213mounted upon the frame 30. The other end of the bar 210 is connected bya link 214 to a rocker arm comprising plates 215 and a hub 216, andthese plates carry rollers 217 adapted to coact with a master cam 218and a conjugate cam 219 mounted on the cam and indexing shaft 32 (FIG.2).

The opposite end of the shuttle 207 (FIGS. 4 to 8) is closed at the topand bottom and houses a shuttle arm 227, the medial portion of whichpasses through the hollow shuttle and is pivoted on a pin 229. The outerend of the shuttle arm 227 is bifurcated and carries a cord gripper 231which is mounted for oscillation with an attached pinion 232 on a pin233 carried by the member 230. The inner end of the shuttle arm 227extends into the hollow shuttle 207 and carries a roller. the roller 180coacting with the grooved bar 179. The cord gripper 231 together withits pinion 232 is movable between stops 240, 241, on the shuttle arm 227of the shuttle 207, and the pinion 232 is rotatable by means of a rack242 slidable along a grooved backing plate 243, and the end of the rack242 remote from the plate 243 is supported and guided by a bracket 244mounted on the shuttle arm 227. A spring loaded plunger 245 is alsomounted on the arm 227 between the pivot 229 and the roller 180 andcoacts with an abutment 246 on the rack 242 to alternately force thegripper 231 against the stops 240, 241 while this rack is beingreciprocated by a depending pin 247 on the end of rack 242 contactingwith the surfaces 198. 198' during reciprocation of the shuttle 207 by adrag link 208 (FIGS. 5 and 8).

The cord stock gripper 231 comprises a body 252 having a gibbed guideway253 coacting with a gripping slide 254 having a forked clamping foot 255cooperating with a similarly forked plate 256 permanently attached tothe body 252 (FIGS. 8. 9. and 11). The gripper is formed to straddle thepath of advancement of the trailing clamps 104 of the carriers 20secured to the conveyor 14. and the slide 254 projects upwardly withinthe guideway 253 and is adapted to be engaged to actuate the grippingfoot 255 by means of a slide 257 slidably mounted in a plate 258 securedto the housing 175. The slide 257 engages the slide 254 so as to impartgripping pressure to the foot 255 against the cord stock 9, and theslide 257 is opera bly by a plunger 2S9 coactinvg with a strong spring267 adjustable by means of a screw 260. The plunger 259 is mounted in abell crank 261 which is pivoted in blocks 262 mounted on the housing 175and is operable by a drag link 263 from a cam lever 2 64 cooperatingwith a cam lug 26S, and this linkage is biased against the cam

